Pagina's

Fjordman posted a new article at Brussels Journal: Sweden: Still Crazy After All These Years, in which he describes Sweden as a Model Society. More particularly: as a model of European ineptitude in dealing with the current crisis. He also makes a stab at the possible causes of this ineptitude. The final paragraphs:

The problems that ail Western Europe are frequently attributed to exhaustion from the wars of the 20th century as well as a post-colonial guilt complex. Yet Political Correctness is strong in Norway, which has no colonial history, and Sweden, which has no colonial history and has also managed to stay out of all major European wars since Napoleonic times, a feat shared only with Switzerland on the European continent. But Switzerland has one of the most armed populations in the world, in contrast to disarmed Swedes who hardly have a credible military anymore. The Swiss also have a healthy tradition of frequent referenda and direct democracy, which partly prevents the elitist rule and suffocating Political Correctness of Sweden.

Perhaps one element in this is ironically the absence of war. Wars are brutal and painful, but they can also be a reality check. Western Europe has been living under American military protection for so long that we have forgotten how it is to protect ourselves, and have even indulged in fantasies that wars can be banned by international law. Is it just a coincidence that the one country that has avoided war for the longest period of time, Sweden, is also arguably the one Western nation where Political Correctness has reached the worst heights? The prolonged period of peace has created an environment where layers of ideological nonsense have been allowed to pile up for generations without stop.

I don’t know how Sweden will look like a generation from now, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be viewed as a model society. And if the absence of war is one of the causes of its current weakness, I fear that is a problem that will soon be cured.

Read it all.[UPDATE001] Over at Gates of Vienna there is also a new article: Why the Future May Not Belong to Islam. In this article Fjordman argues that islam in it's totality may not be equipped to face up to the challenges of the moderns word. Citing other renownded commentators like Theodore Dalrymple and Koenraad Elst, he explains that the trouble with islam these days are the last spasms of a dying beast. But how long will the throes of death last and what damage will it's thrashing limbs do, particularly in Europe?